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The Marrakech Film Festival unveiled its 2024 lineup on Thursday and set that Luca Guadagnino would replace Thomas Vinterberg as its jury president. The other jury members will be Andrew Garfield, Jacob Elordi, Virginie Efira, and Ali Abbasi. Vinterberg “had to excuse himself for family reasons,” festival organizers said.

The Marrakech fest on Thursday also unveiled the lineup for its competition, 11th Continent, and Moroccan Panorama sections, as well as gala and special screenings. In the competition, 14 films will compete for the Étoile d’Or, or Golden Star.

The 21st edition of the fest in Morocco will also honor Sean Penn, David Cronenberg and, posthumously, pay homage to Moroccan star Naïma Elmcherqui. The Marrakech fest takes place Nov. 29-Dec. 7.

Check out the full lineup for the 2024 edition below.

Competition

Across The Sea (LA Mer Au Loin)

by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi / France, Morocco, Belgium

with Ayoub Gretaa, Anna Mouglalis, Grégoire Colin, Omar Boulakirba,...

British filmmaker Sally Potter has set plans to re-release her 2009 feature Rage, starring Riz Ahmed, Lily Cole, Jude Law, and Judi Dench, as a series of posts on Instagram, to mark the film’s 15th anniversary.

Potter has said the movie will unravel over several “real-time” posts across seven days, starting February 23.

The film also stars Patrick J Adams, Jacob Cedergren, John Leguizamo, Eddie Izzard, David Oyelowo, Dianne Wiest, Steve Buscemi, Adriana Barraza, Simon Abkarian and Bob Balaban. The original concept in 2009 was for the film to be watched on smartphones. The synopsis reads: Michelangelo, an unseen schoolboy armed only with a mobile phone, goes behind the scenes at a New York fashion show for seven days in which an accident on the catwalk turns into a murder investigation, and his interviews with key players become a bitterly funny expose of an industry in crisis.

The story unfolds shot by shot,...

Sally Potter is taking her “Rage” to Instagram. IndieWire can exclusively reveal that the lauded British filmmaker will release her iconic 2009 film in a series of Instagram posts beginning on February 23.

“Rage” was the first full-length feature film specifically designed to be watched on mobile phones. Shot in a vertical format as a series of to-camera monologues, the Instagram release will feature a new shot being posted daily, leading up to the March 8 theatrical release from Abramorama to mark the 15th anniversary of the film’s Berlinale debut. “Rage” will screen with anniversary theatrical and non-theatrical engagements across North America and land on a Direct-to-Consumer digital and VOD placements later.

The film first premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival, and follows an unseen student named Michelangelo who goes behind the scenes at a New York fashion show. However, over the course of a week, Michelangelo is thrust into the center...

Notre Dame Trailer — Netflix‘s Notre Dame (2022) TV mini-series trailer has been released. The Notre Dame trailer stars Roschdy Zem, Caroline Proust, Megan Northam, Simon Abkarian, Alice Isaaz, Marie Zabukovec, and Sandor Funtek. Crew Hervé Hadmar directed and wrote the screenplay for Notre Dame. Éric Demarsan created the music for the film. “It’s produced [...]

Continue reading: Notre-dame (2022) TV Mini-series Trailer: Firefighters Battle the Notre Dame Fire & Internal Demons [Netflix]...

"Save the cathedral… without losing a single life." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for a mini-series titled Notre Dame, the second major production based around the Notre Dame fire in 2019. The moment this fire at the iconic cathedral made news around the world, I knew it would be turned into movies. Jean-Jacques Annaud made his own Notre-Dame On Fire film also releasing this year, and Netflix has made their mini-series based around the exact same concept - following the firefighters who went to work putting out the fire that night. Hervé Hadmar's Notre Dame series follows the story of the night of April 15th, 2019 in Notre-Dame Cathedral alongside the many firefighters and the impact the fire had on different characters across France. Starring Roschdy Zem, Caroline Proust, Megan Northam, Simon Abkarian, Alice Isaaz, Marie Zabukovec, Sandor Funtek. This looks like it has some gorgeous visuals, but it also...

Hoss plays a violin teacher under pressure in her personal and professional life as she begins work with a new student

The always-compelling German actor Nina Hoss stars as a neurotic, conflicted violin teacher and mother in this sticky, stop-start drama set in the exacting, pressurised realm of classical music. Those who know this world are aware that it’s an arena where fierce discipline and innate talent is required to succeed and secure coveted spots at, first, highly competitive schools and then, for adults, in ensembles and orchestras. Not all music teachers are Mr Holland’s Opus-style nurturers for sure, but films such as this one as well as Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher and, to an extent, the jazz-angled Whiplash, love to dwell on characters whose minds are contorted into all kinds of perverse, emotionally mangled shapes by their devotion to excellence.

Hoss’s Anna is a...

"What if I told the police where you buried Barcelo?" Netflix has revealed the official trailer for a French action-thriller titled Restless, also known as Sans répit, arriving on Netflix later this month. Another of these French films about a sketchy cop getting into trouble. After going to extremes to cover up an accident, a corrupt cop's life spirals out of control when he starts receiving threats from a mysterious witness. When the investigation of the missing person is given to one of his colleagues, and an anonymous witness tries to blackmail him, things start to get really out of hand. Franck Gastambide stars, with Simon Abkarian, Michael Abiteboul, Tracy Gotoas, Jemima West, & Serge Hazanavicius. Damn this looks intense! When the French want to go big on action, they go all out with all kinds of explosive action. Check this out. Here's the official US trailer (+ poster) for Régis Blondeau's Restless,...

Netflix officially opened its offices in Paris a year ago today and to mark the anniversary the streamer has confirmed details of four upcoming projects.

On the film side, Guillaume Pierret will direct a sequel to his 2020 action pic Lost Bullet, which was a hit for Netflix, attracting more than 37 million viewers in its first four weeks, the company said.

Also in film, Régis Blondeau will remake the 2014 Korean film A Hard Day as A Tombeau Ouvert, starring Franck Gastambide and Simon Abkarian.

In TV, the company confirmed production today on two new series including The 7 lives Of Lea, created by Charlotte Sanson and produced by Empreinte Digitale. The cast will feature Raïka Hazanavicius, Khalil Ben Gharbia, Mélanie Doutey and Samuel Benchetrit. The story follows a woman who stumbles upon the body of Ismael, a teenager who disappeared thirty years earlier, with the event taking her back to 1991 and seeing...

Netflix, hot off the international success of its crime comedy series Lupin, starring Omar Sy, has unveiled a slate of new French-language productions.

On Tuesday, exactly a year after opening offices in Paris, the global streaming giant announced its new French slate, which includes several French-language action movies and new drama series. Among the greenlit films are the thriller A tombeau ouvert, Régis Blondeau’s adaptation of the Korean actioner A Hard Day (2014), starring Franck Gastambide and Simon Abkarian, and two sequels: a follow-up to On the Other Side of the Tracks from Louis Leterrier, starring Omar Sy, and the sequel to Guillaume ...

Netflix, hot off the international success of its crime comedy series Lupin, starring Omar Sy, has unveiled a slate of new French-language productions.

On Tuesday, exactly a year after opening offices in Paris, the global streaming giant announced its new French slate, which includes several French-language action movies and new drama series. Among the greenlit films are the thriller A tombeau ouvert, Régis Blondeau’s adaptation of the Korean actioner A Hard Day (2014), starring Franck Gastambide and Simon Abkarian, and two sequels: a follow-up to On the Other Side of the Tracks from Louis Leterrier, starring Omar Sy, and the sequel to Guillaume ...

The Audition (Das vorspiel) Strand Releasing Reviewed by Harvey Karten for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net Director: Ina Weisse Screenwriter: Ina Weisse, Daphne Charizani Cast: Nina Hoss, Simon Abkarian, Jens Albinus, Ilja Monti, Serafin Mishiev Running Time: 99 minutes Reviewed on: 5/19/20 Opening Date: June 26, 2020 Just as psychoanalysts go through their own years on the […]

The post The Audition Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

"A concert audience won't wait." Strand Releasing has debuted the official Us trailer for an indie German film titled The Audition, originally known as Das Vorspiel in German. This initially premiered at the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals in the fall last year, and is getting a VOD release this summer in the Us. Acclaimed German actress Nina Hoss stars a violin teacher at a renowned music school in Berlin. She vouches for a young student, and spends all her time and effort training him hoping he'll be the star she thinks he is, while neglecting her own musician son and her husband. The film also stars Simon Abkarian, Jens Albinus, Ilja Monti, and Serafin Mishiev. This is a very good film lead by a great performance by Nina Hoss that carries the entire story, so much emotional weight and so much frustration. Worth a watch. Here's the first...

Restoration wit William Congreve opined that music had charms to soothe the savage breast, but in “The Sonata,” it has power to summon the savage beast — you know, the one usually depicted with horns, tail, and a pitchfork. This handsome horror meller set primarily in France benefits considerably from location shooting in cheaper, but picturesque Latvia. It’s Looks 10, Personality 4, however, as director Andrew Desmond and collaborator Arthur Morin’s screenplay doesn’t quite provide enough incident to properly milk its own premise, making for a supernatural thriller that ends just as it’s beginning to work up a sweat.

Opening on 11 U.S. screens Jan. 10 (simultaneous with on-demand release), it’s a watchable if ultimately underwhelming exercise. Perhaps the most notable element here is one of the late Rutger Hauer’s final performances, though he completed several other projects after this late-arriving import, which has played festivals and theatrical...

An intriguing blend of macabre music and gothic atmosphere, The Sonata was one of my favorite films from this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival. Ahead of its January 10th release from Screen Media, we've been provided with an exclusive clip to share with Daily Dead readers.

You can watch a music expert bring a sinister score to life in our exclusive clip below, and keep an eye out for The Sonata when Screen Media releases it in theaters and on VOD beginning January 10th.

Directed by Andrew Desmond, The Sonata stars Freya Tingley, Rutger Hauer, Simon Abkarian, and James Faulkner:

Synopsis: "After being informed of the sudden death of her long lost composer father (Rutger Hauer), a young virtuoso violinist Rose (Freya Tingley) inherits an old mansion in which he used to live. There, she discovers her father’s final work: a mysterious music score marked with strange symbols.

Happy 2020, everyone! With a new year comes a new batch of VOD and digital releases for the month of January. So, if you’re looking for some movies to keep you busy while you try and escape the unforgiving winter elements, we have plenty coming our way over the next few weeks.

Everything kicks off on the 7th with an array of titles making their digital debut, including Countdown, Sequence Break, Snatchers and Inner Ghosts. A few days later, The Marshes arrives on Shudder exclusively, and both The Sonata and Inherit the Viper hit various platforms on the 10th.

January 14th is another big day for digital releases, as one my favorite films of 2019 is set to premiere—Parasite—as well as several other films, including Terminator: Dark Fate, Boneyard, Rough Draft and House of Demons. The Wave, featuring Justin Long and Donald Faison, makes its digital debut on the 17th,...

The latest Top Gun stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Monica Barbaro and Jon Hamm and is directed by Joseph Kosinski, with a new trailer for the sequel arriving this week, along with Christopher Nolan's Tenet, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The Sonata stars Freya Tingley, Simon Abkarian, James Faulkner and is directed by Andrew Desmond. Amy Adams stars in Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window, along with Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie and Julianne Moore.

Dan Scanlon directs Onward, featuring voice talents from Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

The latest Top Gun stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Monica Barbaro and Jon Hamm and is directed by Joseph Kosinski, with a new trailer for the sequel arriving this week, along with Christopher Nolan's Tenet, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The Sonata stars Freya Tingley, Simon Abkarian, James Faulkner and is directed by Andrew Desmond. Amy Adams stars in Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window, along with Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie and Julianne Moore.

Dan Scanlon directs Onward, featuring voice talents from Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

The Sonata is a mysterious thriller, from director Andrew Desmond (Galaxy of Horrors). The film blends the occult with music as one woman inherits a massive estate. Inside the mansion, Rose discovers an incomplete composition, which could summon the Anti-Christ. In one of Rutger Hauer's final roles, The Sonata also stars: Freya Tingley (No Way to Live) as the protagonist, along with: Simon Abkarian and James Faulkner. Filmed in Latvia, the film's first trailer is available here, ahead of an impending U.S. theatrical release. Desmond has spoken a bit about this film. At Eye for Film, the director mentions the Gothic influences: "Gothic horror is one of the most visual genres around...it was important for me to create a dark, elegant and moody atmosphere to bathe the story and its characters in." Some of that Gothic horror can be seen in the setting, the Cesvaine Palace. Desmond...

An intriguing movie that practically oozes gothic horror from its pores, The Sonata was one of my favorite films from this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival, and I'm excited that Daily Dead readers won't have to wait long to see it for themselves, as Screen Media has announced a January release date and unveiled an official trailer and poster for the film.

Directed by Andrew Desmond, The Sonata stars Freya Tingley, Rutger Hauer, Simon Abkarian, and James Faulkner. Screen Media will release The Sonata in theaters and on VOD beginning January 10th, and you can check out the official trailer, synopsis, and poster below:

Synopsis: "After being informed of the sudden death of her long lost composer father (Rutger Hauer), a young virtuoso violinist Rose (Freya Tingley) inherits an old mansion in which he used to live. There, she discovers her father’s final work: a mysterious music score marked with strange symbols.

"If the notes are played with exactly the right pitch, they could conjure and seduce the antichrist." Screen Media has unveiled an official trailer for indie horror-thriller The Sonata, which premiered at numerous genre film festivals last year - including Fantasporto, Fantafestival, and FrightFest. The film stars Australian actress Freya Tingley as a young virtuoso violinist who inherits her long lost composer father's old mansion. When she arrives to there, she discovers a mysterious music score marked with strange symbols, triggering dark forces that reach beyond her imagination. This is a pretty cool concept: a horror movie in which playing music unleashes dark forces. The cast includes (the late) Rutger Hauer, plus Simon Abkarian, and James Faulkner. This definitely looks creepy and cool - I'm curious. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Andrew Desmond's The Sonata, from Screen Media's YouTube: After being informed of the death of her...

As fizzy as a freshly poured glass of Perrier-Jouët, though considerably less complex, writer-director Alexis Michalik’s “Cyrano, My Love” . Part fancifully fictional account of the play’s conception, and part “Waiting for Guffman”-style depiction of the wild antics behind its first production, “Cyrano” was released in France earlier this year, and its undemanding immersion into flashy Belle Époque settings and farcical hijinks with the thinnest topcoat of literary credibility could well earn it an audience Stateside.

According to Michalik’s telling, twentysomething playwright Edmond Rostand (Thomas Solivérès) is a talented wordsmith who nonetheless couldn’t be more out of step with the theatrical tastes of 1890s Paris. Fastidiously mustachioed, stubbornly highbrow and eternally agitated, we’re introduced to him as his latest play has just folded, with a passer-by helpfully identifying him to a companion as “a young poet who writes flop plays.”

A few years later, Edmond...

Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Ina Weisse’s “The Audition,” the tense psychological drama which world premiered at Toronto and went on to win the Silver Shell Award (for Nina Hoss) at San Sebastian.

Represented in international markets by Les Films du Losange, the film stars Hoss as Anna Bronsky, an obsessive violin teacher at a high school focused on honing young talent. When Anna finds a young student, Alexander, she sets off to create a model of herself but her dedication gradually creates a tense situation and affects her personal life with her husband and son.

“‘The Audition’ features such a powerful performance from Hoss that is heartbreaking, vulnerable and unforgettable, we are proud to have the film for North America” said Strand Releasing’s Jon Gerrans who negotiated the deal with Alice Lesort of Les Films du Losange. Strand plans to release “The Audition” next Spring or Summer.

Winners set to be announced in Berlin on December 7.

The European Film Awards (Efa) has unveiled the four features that will compete for the animation prize.

Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles; I Lost My Body; Marona’s Fantastic Tale; and The Swallows of Kabul are all in the running for European Animated Feature Film 2019.

The winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony on December 7 in Berlin.

Salvador Simó’s Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles has already picked up several festival awards including the jury prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival in June.

The film,...

There are two big takeaways in “Someone, Somewhere,” director Cédric Klapisch’s return to Paris after satisfying detours to New York (“Chinese Puzzle”) and eastern France (“Back to Burgundy”). The first, which makes for the better movie, is you can’t love someone until you’ve learned to love yourself. The second, which drags the movie down, is that our hyper-connected era has, paradoxically, kept us from establishing meaningful relationships. Both lessons need to be learned by Mélanie (Ana Girardot) and Rémy (François Civil), lonely thirtysomething neighbors who’d be perfect for each other if only they could overcome their individual hangups, stop substituting computer screens for real connections and actually meet.

At this point, no one can argue that Facebook and Tinder are acceptable alternatives to engaging with the world around you. Had Klapisch advanced the idea 10 years ago, it would have been downright prescient. In 2019, however, his...

Arthouse cinema isn’t generally inclined toward “Alien vs. Predator”-style franchise mashups, but if some kind of icy faceoff were engineered between the troubled, seething music instructors of Michael Haneke’s “The Piano Teacher” and Ina Weisse’s “The Audition,” all bets would be off. As played with customary, finely razored emotional control by Nina Hoss, violin teacher Anna Bronsky might seem more outwardly functional than Isabelle Huppert’s lonely, repressed paraphiliac Erika Kohut: In a stable middle-class marriage with a gifted son following in her footsteps, Anna seemingly hasn’t much to complain about besides her own stifled musical dreams. Yet the old “those who can, do, those who can’t, teach” maxim takes on more dangerous implications when her dedication to one underdog student veers into obsessive territory; Weisse’s gripping, cool-blooded drama upends all manner of inspirational-educator clichés.

Appearing in San Sebastian’s official competition following...

Featuring a captivating performance from Nina Hoss, Ina Weisse’s sophomore feature follows a woman trapped in the pursuit of success and abandoning her family. A famous actress with an extended career in German television, Ina Weisse made her first foray into screenwriting and directing with the award-winning feature drama The Architect in 2008. The Audition is Weisse’s sophomore film and had its world premiere in the Discovery section at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival. Anna Bronsky (Nina Hoss) is a violin teacher in a high school for musicians in Berlin. She’s married to French violin maker Philippe (Simon Abkarian) and together they have a 10-year-old son, Jonas (Serafin Mishiev), who also attends the same school. Her relationship with her husband seems to be crumbling, and Anna is looking for new challenges in her rather dull family and professional life. During the school’s annual admission exams, Anna becomes fascinated with.

Exclusive: Euro thriller The Sonata, starring Freya Tingley (Hemlock Grove), Simon Abkarian (Casino Royale) and the late Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner) in one of his last roles, has sold to France and a handful of Asian markets.

On the heels of its North American deal to Screen Media, the film has sold to France with Condor Distribution, whose recent releases include Can You Ever Forgive Me, Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace and Sundance winner The Miseducation Of Cameron Post. Pic is slated for a 2020 release with a premium digital strategy.

Directed by Andrew Desmond, the gothic thriller sees a young violinist unravel her long lost father’s past, triggering dark forces. Festival berths have included London FrightFest, Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and Bifan.

Sales firm Arri has also newly sold the film to Suraya for Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar. Previous deals include Japan (Klockworx), Russia (Nashe Kino...

A scene early in German actress-turned-filmmaker Ina Weisse’s second feature, The Audition, is indicative both of its heroine’s slippery psychology and the slippery nature of the movie itself: Anna, a music teacher and violinist played by the superb Nina Hoss (Barbara, Phoenix), is having dinner at a restaurant with her French husband, Philippe (Simon Abkarian). Before the two can even sit down, she asks him to change tables, and then she switches up her drink order a few times. Then she harasses the waiter about the menu, finally chooses something she likes, only to change her mind again, and then ...

A scene early in German actress-turned-filmmaker Ina Weisse’s second feature, The Audition, is indicative both of its heroine’s slippery psychology and the slippery nature of the movie itself: Anna, a music teacher and violinist played by the superb Nina Hoss (Barbara, Phoenix), is having dinner at a restaurant with her French husband, Philippe (Simon Abkarian). Before the two can even sit down, she asks him to change tables, and then she switches up her drink order a few times. Then she harasses the waiter about the menu, finally chooses something she likes, only to change her mind again, and then ...

German actor-director Ina Weisse brings a sense of quiet severity to her latest film The Audition, which intimately follows Anna (Nina Hoss), a violin instructor at a high school that specializes in gifted musicians, as she begins to project her own thwarted potential onto her new pupil Alexander (newcomer Ilja Monti) and finds herself so invested in his success that her anxieties and resentments about resigning herself to a life of mundane normalcy bubble to the surface and soon infect her relationships with everyone around her.

It’s a simple, not particularly innovative idea—think Whiplash but with the Pov reversed and less overt psychological warfare—however it does strike a very interesting dynamic between Anna and her husband (Simon Abkarian). He used to be a promising musician as well but in his age has grown to accept his role as not just a humble luthier who takes pride in his craft,...

Screen Media has acquired North American rights to The Sonata (read our review), starring Hobo with a Shotgun‘s Rutger Hauer, “Hemlock Groves’” Freya Tingley, and Simon Abkarian, Bloody Disgusting learned. The film, directed by Andrew Desmond, centers on a young violinist who “unravels her long-lost father’s past, triggering dark forces that reach beyond her imagination.” I’ve been lucky enough to see The […]...

Screen Media has picked up all North American rights to “The Sonata,” a thriller that features one of the late actor Rutger Hauer’s final film roles.

“The Sonata” centers on young violinist Rose (Freya Tingley) who inherits an old mansion after the death of her composer father (Hauer). After moving in, she discovers that his final work was a mysterious musical score with strange symbols that unlock keys to her father’s shadowy past, unleashing a horror beyond imagination. Screen Media is planning a theatrical and VOD release in early 2020.

The film has already sold key foreign territories and played as part of Lincoln Center’s “Scary Movies” summer series and at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival. “The Sonata” was co-written and directed by Andrew Desmond, marking his first time behind the camera for a feature-length production. “The Sonata” was co-written by Arthur Morin.

Tingley, best known for her work on “Hemlock Grove,...

Standing out in the French sales agent’s Toronto line-up is German director Ina Weisse’s second feature film, which will then go on to battle it out in competition at San Sebastián. The international sales team (led by Alice Lesort) of Parisian outfit Les Films du Losange (directed by Margaret Ménégoz) are heading for the 44th Toronto International Film Festival (running 5 to 15 September), pinning their hopes on The Audition, among others, by Germany’s Ina Weisse, which will have its world premiere in Canada on 8 September within the Discovery section of the Festival, before travelling on to compete in the 67th San Sebastian International Film Festival (20 to 28 September).This second feature film by the actress, following on from The Architect (screened at the 2009 Berlinale within the German Cinema line-up), brings together German star Nina Hoss, France’s Simon Abkarian, Ilja Monti, Serafin Mishiev and Denmark’s Jens Albinus. Written.

Stars: Freya Tingley, Simon Abkarian, James Faulkner, Rutger Hauer, Catherine Schaub-Abkarian, Matt Barber, Christopher Brand, James Kermack, Myster Jo, Laine Ligere Stengrévica | Written by Andrew Desmond, Arthur Morin | Directed by Andrew Desmond

While horror movies and classical music aren’t complete strangers, it’s not like they know each other very well. Films like The Shining, Candyman and The Exorcist have used this style of music in their movies but not many have their storylines centered around classical music. This is exactly what The Sonata does.

After her father’s passing a young violinist discovers that her parent was involved in much more darker occurrences than the music he wrote. Finding his last ever piece of music, she is lead into a world she never knew existed.

It felt that, for a long time, The Sonata was building and building to a big final scene where all the horror and...

The long-awaited, graphically rich, 2D watercolor-style animation “The Swallows Of Kabul” from French helmers Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec provides an involving adaptation of Yasmina Khadra’s elegant literary fiction. The book, an international bestseller about life under Taliban control in the Afghan capital, highlighted a dangerous act of humanity during a grim and violent time via the stories of two couples whose fates become intertwined through death, imprisonment, and remarkable self-sacrifice. This supplies the core plot of the film, with the action condensed into a tight 81 minutes. Purists may object that the prestige production takes some liberties with novel, but on the whole, the inventions by screenplay writers Sébastien Tavel, Patricia Mortagne, and co-helmer Breitman feel dramatically and poetically right.

The action unfolds in 1998 (as opposed to the novel’s 2001), shortly after the fundamentalist Taliban have come to power. Historian Mohsen (voiced by Swann Arlaud) and artist Zunaira (Zita Hanrot...

Variety is reporting on several international deals for the mystery thriller The Sonata, starring Hobo with a Shotgun‘s Rutger Hauer, “Hemlock Groves'” Freya Tingley, and Simon Abkarian. The film, directed by Andrew Desmond, centers on a young violinist who “unravels her long-lost father’s past, triggering dark forces that reach beyond her imagination.” I’ve been lucky enough to […]...

"Aren't we all already long dead?" Celluloid Dreams has debuted the first full trailer for French animated film The Swallows of Kabul, adapted from Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra's tragic tale capturing life in Kabul in 1998. The film is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival coming up this month, and will then play at the Annecy Film Festival also in France. The emotional story follows two couples whose lives become intertwined: "one young and liberal, whose lives are at risk under the strictures of Taliban rule, the other older and more conservative." The film has been in development for over five years, animated in France and produced by Les Armateurs, co-directed by Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec. Featuring the voices of Hiam Abbass as Mussarat, Simon Abkarian as Atiq, Zita Hanrot as Zunaira, and Swann Arlaud as Mohsen. This looks gorgeous and heartbreaking, a tough story to watch but...

Germany’s leading sales companies have descended on the American Film Market with a wide range of titles that span horror and historical fare to arthouse, animation and family pics.

Supernatural thrillers look to be especially prevalent this year, with such chilling titles as “The Sonata,” “Hanna’s Homecoming” and “Party Hard, Die Young” — all from Arri Media Intl.

Directed by Andrew Desmond and starring Freya Tingley, Simon Abkarian and Rutger Hauer, “The Sonata” follows a young violinist who inadvertently triggers dark forces after discovering a mysterious music score composed by her late father. The film world premiered at Afm.

Esther Bialas’ “Hanna’s Homecoming,” likewise having its market premiere, centers on a teen girl who is shunned in her village because her mother was widely believed to be a witch and responsible for the deaths of several men. The pic premiered in October at the Hof Film Festival.

Also...

Freya Tingley in ‘The Sonata.’

Freya Tingley will play the lead in first-time Us director Ali Presley Paras’ mystery-thriller Year of the Detectives, which starts shooting in Los Angeles this month.

The Aussie actor describes her character Nic O’Connell, a recently discharged Army veteran, as “like a grenade with the pin pulled: she’s tomboyish, tough and not afraid of a fight.”

O’Connell jointly inherits her grandfather’s private detective agency in the heart of Chinatown. She must set aside her differences with her co-inheritor (True Grit’s Paul Rae) to solve the mystery of her grandparents’ deaths as bodies pile up.

Chris Johnson wrote the script and the producer is Silversmith Pictures’ Joe Smith. A longtime assistant cameraman, Paras has directed several shorts including Quad, which is available on Hulu as part of the Fun Size Horror anthology.

“I’m pretty well versed in classic films so...

Stars: Scott Eastwood, Ana de Armas, Freddie Thorp, Gaia Weiss, Simon Abkarian | Written by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas | Directed by Antonio Negret

Andrew and Garrett Foster (Scott Eastwood and Freddie Thorp) are not only exceptional drivers but are also known for being the best car thieves in the world. In Marseille, they steal a rare and priceless Bugatti 1937 from the local mafia boss Jacomo Morier (Simon Abkarian). In exchange for their lives Morier decides to use their talents for his own profit and to get back at his arch rival. Whilst seemingly agreeing to work with Morier the brothers have actually devised a much more daring plan…

Gone in Sixty Seconds meets 2 Fast 2 Furious… that’s probably the best way to describe Overdrive, a French production from Taken director Pierre Morel that feels like a Luc Besson take on That supercar franchise (before it became all about The Rock and...

MaryAnn’s quick take… More plot holes than plot, this overly convoluted, deeply stupid Fast and Furious wannabe is crammed with clichés and memorable only when it’s laughable. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Kinda like how John Woo always has doves in his movies, and Steven Spielberg always has lens flare, so shall Colombian director Antonio Negret be known for exploding cars flipping through the air. It’s not a particularly unique visual twitch to embrace, this is true, but he’s not a particularly distinctive sort of filmmaker. His latest, Overdrive, is barely distinguishable from his previous film, 2012’s almost hilariously terrible Transit. Sadly, though, Overdrive is quite distinguishable from the movies it would like to be seen as akin to, the very early Fast and Furious movies (like, the first two...

Author: Daniel Goodwin

Writer/director Thomas Kruithof’s French, forceful debut feature recalls classic conspiracy thrillers such as The Parallax View, All The Presidents Men and Marathon Man, while standing matchless amongst its predecessors due to inherent timeless qualities; stark realism, bleak cinematography and an ability to efficiently subvert/meld several sub-genre styles and components. Mostly resembling Coppola’s The Conversation due to the nature of protagonist Duval (comfortably alone, introvert), similar to Gene Hackman’s Harry Caul, along with his comparable occupation and the central story of a Government surveyor/transcriber in over his head. Scribe also incorporates traits from 90s political thrillers with conspiratorial sub-plots about corrupt officials with ulterior motives. Meanwhile the subtle suggestion of grittier, higher octane latter Bond and Bourne films slightly informs its style, augmented by a lo/sci-fi edge and embellished by the score.

François Cluzet plays Duval, a recovering alcoholic, ex-office clerk,...

Third Cut is the Deepest: Akin’s Barren Examination of Armenian Genocide

Turkish-German director Fatih Akin concludes his decade in the making ‘Love, Death, and the Devil’ trilogy with The Cut, a film documenting the devastation of the 1915 Armenian genocide. It is the second film to reach theatrical release in 2015 dealing with the century old tragedy, following the aptly titled 1915 directed by Garin Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian (both films notably star French-Armenian actor Simon Abkarian), and does convey a certain sense of nobly epic proportions in regards to the detrimental scope of an event robbed of the same historical urgency as several genocides since. But the nature of these horrors are lost in Akin’s overly refined handling of the material, whittled down to one father’s ceaseless journey to reclaim the kin war has separated him from. Those unlikely to appreciate a certain sense of honorable intention in Akin...

The Cut Strand Releasing Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade: B Director: Fatih Akin Written by: Fatih Akin, Mardik Martin Cast: Tahar Rahim, Simon Abkarian, Makram Khoury, Hindi Zahra, Kevork Malikyan, Moritz Bleibtreu Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/5/15 Opens: September 18, 2015 Nowadays when so many children in America seem eager to get as far away from their parents as they can, the Hamburg-born, Turkish director Fatih Akin, who wrote “The Cut” as well, presents us with a more sanguine idea. In this slow-moving film, two young women would like nothing better to run into their father, missing for years when he was pulled [ Read More ]

The post The Cut Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

"A love that can't be stopped." The first official Us trailer has debuted for Fatih Akin's epic new film The Cut. Starring the very talented Tahir Rahim, seen in A Prophet, The Eagle and The Past, set in 1915 a man survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but loses his family, speech and faith. One night he learns that his twin daughters may be alive, and goes on a quest to find them leading him all the way to America. This looks quite magnificent, despite mixed reviews. I love the shot of him watching the Chaplin movie and getting emotional and inspired by that. The cast includes Simon Abkarian, Makram Khoury, Hindi Zahra & Kevork Malikyan. You might not want to miss this one. I'm looking forward to seeing it. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for Fatih Akin's The Cut, first found via The Film Stage: The Cut...

In honor of the ravaged 1.5 million victims of the forgotten Armenian Genocide, which marks its 100th anniversary today, Shockya has an exclusive clip from the new drama ’1915.’ The new video from the movie, titled ‘You Will Lose Everything,’ explores the tragedy that has been denied for an entire century. The film’s all-too-important message was brought to the screen by an Armenian cast and crew, including being written, directed and produced by firs-time filmakers, Garin Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian. The movie stars Simon Abkarian, Angela Sarafyan, Sam Page, Nikolai Kinski, Debra Christofferson and Jim Piddock. ’1915′ is now available on VOD and in theaters from it distributors, Bloodvine Media, [ Read More ]

The post Exclusive 1915 Film Clip Honors Victims of Armenian Genocide appeared first on Shockya.com.

Two first-time Us filmmakers have accused The Water Diviner of ignoring the alleged slaughter of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks a century ago.

The Australian drama directed by Russell Crowe is the .highest profile piece of propaganda ever produced in the service of genocide denial,. Garin Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian say in an open letter to Warner Bros., the film.s Us distributor.

Hovannisian, an Armenian-American, and Mouhibian, a Los Angeles-based writer, co-directed 1915 The Movie, a psychological thriller which follows a director (Simon Abkarian) who stages a play at the Los Angeles Theatre to honour the victims of the Armenian tragedy.

As protesters surround the theatre and a series of strange accidents spread panic among his actors, the ghosts of the past reappear.

Published last week in The Wrap, their letter refers to the Us release date of The Water Diviner, April 24.

They write, .The problem is...

The legal dissolution of a marriage has been dramatic fodder for serious films throughout the years, including Kramer Vs Kramer and The Sum Of Us. Oh, and even a few comedies like The War Of The Roses (but it’s very, very dark). Husband and wife are treated equally in the court (when the lawyers aren’t able to work things out) as the judge and jurors decide how the union will end. But what about other countries, other cultures? What occurs when one spouse apparently has all the power in the proceedings? Such is the conflict in this new film set in Israel, where a trio of rabbis decide one woman’s fate. And since there’s no claims of adultery or physical abuse, the divorce decree can only happen if the husband will consent. That’s the main obstacle and conflict in Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem.

“2015 marks not only the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, but also the close of an entire century of forgotten genocides,” says "1915" co-director Garin Hovannisian in a statement. “‘1915’ is about denial —how we try to escape history, how history continues to haunt us. It is also about the need to face the ghosts of our own pasts.” Perhaps with his upcoming psychoglical thriller, Hovannisian hopes to shed light on a under-discussed corner of history. Co-directed by Alec Mouhibian and starring Simon Abkarian and Angela Sarafyan, the film centers on a mysterious director who is staging a play at the Los Angeles Theatre to honor the victims of the Armenian genocide. But his work sparks protests, strange accidents begin to spread, and it appears that the director’s dangerous mission can't escape the ghosts of the past. Check out the exclusive trailer for the film below, which teases many dramatic elements at play.

Chicago – The title event of “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem” is a prison sentence with no predictable day of release. The prisoner is Viviane (a fascinating Ronit Elkabetz), a soft-spoken middle-aged woman well beyond the point of a content unhappiness. She is trapped to a farce, as the divorce laws of Israel demand that a husband agree to the divorce before it can be finalized, with three rabbis and a lawyer each to discuss the event.

Viviane’s desire to start a new life away from her current husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian) becomes a hell on earth as he proves an unmovable object, a warden with no empathy who refuses to show up for many of the hearings (he doesn’t really have to unless it gets really bad, according to law). It takes him about a year and a half to finally appear first time, and even...